Music
Intent
At Lingham Primary School, we aim to develop musicians; to help children feel like they are musical and fostering a life long love of music. We feel the curriculum we have chosen and the experiences that we provide will inspire creativity and self-expression encouraging pupils on their musical journey. We follow the statutory content of the national curriculum and Development Matters in EYFS for music. We use the Kapow music scheme as the basis of our music provision to deliver this curriculum. Through the three pillars of music, technical, constructive and expressive, the scheme focuses on developing knowledge and skills, ensuring incremental progression as children move through the school. We are committed to delivering exciting lessons, which engage all our pupils.The Music curriculum is ambitious and, where required, pedagogy is adapted so that all pupils including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND are on the same knowledge journey towards the same endpoints.
At our school, children have access to music through weekly lessons. Other enrichment opportunities include, after school clubs, singing assemblies, lunchtime choir club and performances in school.
In lessons, we focus on the knowledge and skills of musical theory, performing, notation and composing and evaluating using tuned and untuned instruments. Children develop confidence and become more adept at working effectively with others, sharing their ideas, negotiating and finding creative solutions. Knowledge and skills are revisited and refreshed regularly to ensure that they become embedded. To support them in this, we prioritise the teaching and practising of key subject vocabulary, as it is explicitly taught.
Implementation
The Kapow music curriulum takes a holisitic approach to music, in which the strands below are woven together to create engaing and enriching lessons
- Performing
- Listening
- Composing
- The history of music
- The inter-related dimensions of music
The lessons taught combine these strands and are designed to capture pupils imagination and encourage them to explore music enthusiastically. Children are taught to sing fluently and expressively, and play tuned and untuned instruments accurately and with control. Pupils through these lessons learn to recognise and name the interrelated dimensions of music- pitch, tempo, dynamics, timbre, duration, structure and texture. Children are taught to use these expressively in their own improvisations and compositions.
Impact
Our use of the Kapow music scheme of work means that all staff are able to plan and deliver effective, challenging and enjoyable units work, which allows for progression across the school as well as ensuring all strands of the National Curriculum are covered. Our music curriculum enables all children to make good progress because it is accessible, relevant and enjoyable for all. Kapow provides regular opportunities for assessment of children, including a performance element at the end of each unit so teachers can make a summative assessment of children’s learning and accurately track their progress and understand their next steps.
Our aim is for children to leave Lingham Primary School equipped with a range of skills to enable them to succeed in their secondary education and to be able to enjoy and appreciate music throughout their lives.
Our new music curriculum is expected to impact our children in the following ways:
- Be confident performers, composers and listeners and will be able to express themselves musically at and beyond school.
- Show an appreciation and respect for a wide range of musical styles from around the world and will understand how music is influenced by the wider cultural, social and historical contexts in which it is developed.
- Understand the ways in which music can be written down to support performing and composing activities.
- Demonstrate and articulate an enthusiasm for music and be able to identify their own personal musical preferences.
- Meet the end of key stage expectations as outlined in the National Curriculum for music.